Quotable Quotes: Quotabit – themedideas

“The Crab Bucket Syndrome is nothing but the collective ‘gravity’ exerted by the people closure to the floor of the society pulling down the person climbing up against the gravity.

To defy gravity, a rocket has to have enough power to climb to the space, otherwise it ends up in the Atlantic or Pacific ocean. Likewise, the person climbing up must have enough power to defy the collective ‘gravity’ exerted by the people closure to the floor of the society. One or two might get hold of the person climbing up for a while making climbing difficult because of the substantial increase in their weight. If the person climbing up does not have enough power to defy the pull downwards, he would come down to the floor. If he has enough power to defy the pull downwards, he would continue to climb up, and the people holding on to him would eventually fall down as they would not be able to tolerate the adverse atmosphere further higher up (low oxygen, temperature etc).

In India, it is popularly known as the “Indian Crab Syndrome” because of its perceived high prevalence. It is not confined to India only, it is a universal phenomenon on all the planets. The colour of the crabs might be brown or black in India and in some other countries, white elsewhere on the Earth, red in Mars, yellow in Jupiter and blue in Saturn!

Sudipta Paul

(09.11.2014.)

The Crab Bucket Syndrome

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Crab mentality, sometimes referred to as crabs in the bucket, is a phrase that describes a way of thinking best described by the phrase “if I can’t have it, neither can you.” The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs. Individually, the crabs could easily escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a useless “king of the hill” competition which prevents any from escaping and ensures their collective demise. The analogy in human behavior is that members of a group will attempt to “pull down” (negate or diminish the importance of) any member who achieves success beyond the others, out of envy, conspiracy or competitive feelings. This term is broadly associated with short-sighted, non-constructive thinking rather than a unified, long-term, constructive mentality. It is also often used colloquially in reference to individuals or communities attempting to improve their socioeconomic situations, but kept from doing so by others attempting to ride upon their coat-tails or those who simply resent their success. The popularity of the phrase has made accusing opponents of crab mentality a common form of defense against criticism, whether the criticism is valid or not. Depending on the context, this tactic may fall under the logical fallacy known asargumentum ad invidiam, or appeal to envy. While the reason for crab mentality is thought to be jealousy, and a paucity of resources leading to perpetual competition, it also appears to be a behavioural trait indulged in despite people knowing it to be disadvantageous to them.

“What matters is who sits on the chairperson’s chair, not the chair itself.”

Sudipta Paul

(09.11.2014.)

Quotabit 103. “Hunger Strike” (09.11.2014.)

“It is not striking if somebody goes on ‘hunger strike’. It is his/her choice whether to eat and drink or not. We have no right to interfere with somebody’s personal choice. He/she is mature enough to make a choice and face the consequences gracefully!”

Sudipta Paul

(09.11.2014.)

Quotabit 104. “Stock/Life” (11.11.2014.)

“You could only maximise your profit if you bought a stock when its price was at rock bottom and had sold it when the price skyrocketed. If you buy the stock when the price has already skyrocketed, you are unlikely to benefit from it and would be more likely to make a great loss.”

“A person with a lot of knowledge about football would not necessarily be an excellent footballer as that requires other technical skills and use of judgment on the field that implements the knowledge into practice.”